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Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs
Through the weekly and daily devotionals you can be constantly encouraged in your great role of parenting, the highest career in the nation. You can also stay updated on what's happening with the Above Rubies ministry.
Is the light in your soul dim? Or perhaps nearly out? What about your home? Does the light of Jesus burn brightly in your home, or is it fading?
Do you remember the story Jesus told of the five wise and the five foolish virgins? Because the bridegroom delayed his coming, they all grew drowsy and went to sleep. At midnight the cry came, “Behold, the bridegroom comes; go ye out to meet him.”
Awaking, they began to top up the oil in their lamps to go out to meet the bridegroom. Desperately, the five foolish exclaimed: “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” Did you notice, they didn’t say, “Our lamps have gone out”? No, they still had some light, but it was fading. They had got used to their dim light, but that dim light was not enough to meet the bridegroom. Because they were not diligent, they missed out on the wedding feast. Read the whole story in Matthew 25.
It’s so easy for our light to go out if we don’t keep refueling. We can get used to a dim light. We must constantly and daily replenish the light in our soul with the oil of the Holy Spirit. We must abide in Christ. We must feed on the Word daily. Unless we feed and refuel, our light fades.
Dear mothers, we have the responsibility to not only keep the light of God burning in our hearts, but also burning in our homes. That’s why the Jewish mother lights the candles on the eve of Shabbat because it is her responsibility to keep the light of God burning in the home. To do this, we must keep our own light constantly topped up with the infilling of the Holy Spirit. And keep filling our children’s hearts with God’s Word which is a lamp to their feet and a light to their paths (Psalm 119:105).
Don’t let the light of Jesus grow dim in your home.
Be blessed,
Nancy Campbell
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We may not like to acknowledge the truth that our body does not belong to us. We are not free to do what we like. Well, we can if we want, but only to our detriment. God is the creator of our body. He created it perfectly. Gloriously. Wondrously, Amazingly. Honorably. Powerfully. And He wants us to use our bodies the way He created them to function.
Sadly, we live in a distorted society where women are educated beyond their intelligence. They don’t seem to understand they are female. They reject their womb and female functions as if they were something foreign. To be done away with. To be rejected and scorned. They want to live life without their femaleness.
How ridiculous to try and be someone you are not! To miss out on your purpose for life!
There were women who rejected their femaleness back in Roman times too. Romans 1:26 tells us that “God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women (a word which means a suckling mother) did change the natural function into that which is against nature.”
But we need to get back to the Scriptures and see what God says. He says it more powerfully than I can say.
1 Corinthians 6:19: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and YE ARE NOT YOUR OWN? For ye are brought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s."
Isaiah 29:16 (ESV): “You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’: or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?”
Isaiah 45:9 (ESV): “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’? Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”
Isaiah 64:8: “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”
Jeremiah 18:6: “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? Saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”
Romans 9:20 (CJB): “Who are you, a mere human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me this way?’”
Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Romans 14:7: “For none of us liveth to himself.”
God’s way is the best way. It is the only way.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
Painting by Mary Cassatt * Mother and Child (1889).
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Did you read the testimony by Pitana and Nadia Mutana on page 27 of the current Above Rubies, #94? They wrote about the power of naming their children.
Their darling baby girl was born in January. They named her Grace. Little did they know the grace of God they would need. Little Grace was born with Cloves disease. It is a very rare disease and only about 50 people in the whole world have been diagnosed with it. It is a serious disease and we have been praying along with Pitana and Nadia for a miracle for their baby. And I know many of you have been praying too.
Pitana and Nadia and their children are people of faith. They are raising their children to be people of prayer and faith. Every week they fast and pray along with their children. And they have been continually pressing into God for a miracle for Grace.
Because of the Cloves disease, Grace was born with a divider on her forehead. The left side of her face and body were perfect. The right side was growing the tumors. Praise the Lord, this morning Nadia messaged me with wonderful news. “It is clearing up. The divider was so thick, it went through the skin. It wasn’t just on the surface. But God is clearing it up. Even in the back. So, in faith, we know He has healed her of all! We shall soon see it all.
“Our baby Grace would only turn her head to the left. She would always lay her head facing to the left. Her eyes would also only see through the corner to the left. As of Saturday, praise God, she lays her head facing to the right and her eyes move around, and she can actually see us now!
“Now, instead of going for twelve days without a bowel movement, she went six days! She has had two bowel movements in a row which she hasn’t since her first week of being born. Praise God, He heals and has already healed her. ‘By His stripes Grace was healed.’ Hallelujah!
“Thank you for praying with us. Soon, we will write telling you that the tumor is gone, her feet, legs, and toes are perfect. Her hips are in place. That her mouth is perfect, and her left side is the same size as the right side. That her kidneys are perfect and the same size. And her skin beautiful and same color! Our God is faithful.
“A month ago, we had to contend for her life as the enemy was really attacking her., She would do almost bell crunches in great pain and her eyes would roll. It happened one after the other and left her completely exhausted. At times she couldn’t cry. This lasted for a couple of weeks while getting worse. One night we included the children and stayed up praying as we sensed her life was at risk. Praise God, He has set her free! We give Him all the glory!
“Thank you for praying for us.”
Keep believing and praying for Grace for the great miracle of her total healing.
Love from Nancy Campbell
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What is pouring out of your mouth today, dear wife and mother? We build our marriages and homes with our words. It is one of our most powerful building tools. Many marriages have fallen apart and are broken today because of negative words.
Our words have power to build or destroy.
But we have the anointing of the life of Jesus Christ dwelling within us to speak positive words into our marriages and into the lives of each one of our children. Life-giving words. Healing words. Encouraging words. Sweet words. Affirming words. Uplifting words.
Proverbs 10:11 says: ‘The mouth of the righteous is a WELL OF LIFE.” Most other translations say: “The mouth of the righteous is a FOUNTAIN OF LIFE.” Life-giving water pouring out on your husband and children.
I love Proverbs 10:32 (TPT): “Words that bring delight pour from the lips of the godly.”
What power you have as a mother to fill your home with life and vitality. Light and joy. Laughter and happiness. Love and goodness. All through the words that come out of your mouth.
Be a life-giving fountain today.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Although I am an American citizen, I am still a British subject, belonging to the Commonwealth. Therefore, I hope you don’t mind my posting a picture of our lovely queen. She will be 92 years on 21 April.
I loved what she said in her Christmas speech this last year. “We think of our homes as places of warmth, familiarity and love; of shared stories and memories, which is perhaps why at this time of the year so many return to where they grew up. There is a timeless simplicity to the pull of the home.”
Home should be the greatest drawing place on earth. God is the originator of the Home. Homes are His idea.
Embrace and love your home today.
Nancy Campbell
2531 Hits
The disciples of Jesus came to Him and asked him why he spoke in parables. Jesus answered: “Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matthew 13:11). The wonderful news of God’s great salvation is called “the mystery of the gospel.” The truths of God’s kingdom are called “the mysteries of the kingdom.”
One of the reasons is that they are so opposite to the natural man. They don’t even make sense to the carnal man!
Therefore, if you are born again and have entered the kingdom of God, you may as well get used to the fact that God’s eternal truths are at loggerheads with human wisdom. Why are you so concerned that you think differently to our culture? You’re not meant to think like our humanistic culture today. Your thinking should be transformed! We are meant to think like God thinks, not like the world thinks (Isaiah 55:8, 9).
Jesus went on to explain to his disciples the meaning of the parable of the sower where people hear “the word of the kingdom.” Verses 20, 21 say: “But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has not root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises BECAUSE OF THE WORD (the truths of the kingdom of God which are opposite to the thinking of the natural man), immediately he stumbles.”
If we believe and receive God’s Word from beginning to end. If we obey the words of His kingdom, we will receive reaction from family and people around us. We may face ridicule. Be scoffed at. We may even face persecution.
The question is: will we be offended? Will we turn away because kingdom truths are opposite to man’s ideas? Or will we stick fast?
We belong to a kingdom that is not of this world. It is an everlasting kingdom. A kingdom that will never be shaken. A kingdom that will one day rule every other kingdom. Because our kingdom is not of this world, the natural man cannot understand it.
In a society where marriages are breaking up, you build and strengthen your marriage. You are sticking to your sacred vows. In a culture where people do not understand the value of children, you embrace the children God planned to give to you. Even though you receive pressure to leave your children and get out of the home, you stand your ground. You will not give the children God has given you to someone else to raise. You know who God created you to be. You embrace motherhood, home, and family. You are out of step with culture, but you are in step with God.
People can’t understand you, but you are coming to understand the “mysteries of the kingdom.” You know they are God’s eternal truths. They are God’s blueprint. They bring peace, joy, and rest.
“Blessed are your eyes, for they SEE: and your ears, for they HEAR” (Matthew 13:16).
Be blessed today.
Nancy Campbell
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What is the most important thing you want to teach your children? I know you have great aspirations for your children. You want them to be successful, that’s for sure. And therefore, you spend much time on their education and taking them to all the different extra-curricular activities.
But have we missed it? I find that even among wonderful homeschooling families that most children come forth from their homes knowing very little of God’s Word. Yes, they had a Christian education, but they don’t know the Word. It’s not inside them. It’s not coming out their mouths.
God makes His plan for raising our children very plain. Let’s remind ourselves of just a few Scriptures, among hundreds:
Deuteronomy 6:6, 7 (AMP): “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be (written) on your heart and mind. You shall teach them diligently to your children (impressing God’s precepts on their minds and penetrating their hearts with His truths) and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up.”
Isaiah 59:21 (ESV): “’As for me, this is my covenant with them,’ says the LORD: ‘My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your MOUTH, shall not depart out of your MOUTH, or out of the MOUTH of your offspring, or out of the MOUTH of your children’s offspring,’ says the LORD ‘from this time forth and forevermore.’”
The above Scriptures command us to get God’s Word, not only into the hearts of our children, but into their mouths. God is very concerned about making sure our children constantly speak His words. They should be coming out their mouths!
We need to also remind ourselves of the Scriptures which promise that if we get God’s Words into our children and they daily walk in obedience to them that they will prosper and be successful:
Joshua 1:8: “The Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way PROSPEROUS, AND THEN YOU WILL HAVE GOOD SUCCESS.”
Psalm 1:1-3: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and WHATEVER HE DOES SHALL PROSPER.”
Let’s take notice, dear parents. If we want our children to be successful, we’ve got to get God’s Words into their hearts and MOUTHS! It’s more important than all the rest of their education. It’s more important that all their extra activities. It’s the most important part of every day.
So what are we doing about it? What plans do we have? Do we plan our children’s days with this purpose in mind? Deuteronomy 6:7 tells us to be ready to talk of His commands and ways at any moment of the day. But I believe we also need to make specific times. The biblical pattern is the morning and evening principle—to gather the family together every morning and every evening to read God’s Word to them and to pray together. This is the very least we can do.
Make sure that you plan your day around making this happen for the blessing and success of your children.
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Do you embrace your womb as a gift from God? Part of who you are as a woman? A sacred place? Or do you see it as something that does not fit in with your lifestyle? An organ that you would rather not function?It’s normal that if we have anything wrong with any organ in our body, we are desperate for healing. Some people go to God for healing. Others run to the doctor. Whatever way, we want our body to function correctly. In fact, when one part of our body is sick or hurt, it affects the rest of our body.
And yet when it comes to the womb, the part of us that more than anything else distinguishes us as a woman, we don’t want it to work! What is wrong with that? It is the deception of the devil who hates the womb and hates life! Genesis 3:15 tells us that there is enmity between the devil and the woman. One translation says: “There will be war.” Satan is at war against the womb because it is the place of life. It is the place where life is conceived, grows, and comes forth into this world. An eternal soul from conception. A life that will live forever. A life that is destined from the foundation of the world. A life that can be filled with God and bring the revelation of God into this world.
Dearest mothers, let’s not be deceived by the devil, the hater of life (John 10:10). Let’s embrace the way God created us. All His works are perfect. They are wonderful, marvelous, and amazing (Psalm 139:14).
When we embrace the function of who God created us to be we live in His blessing 1 Timothy 2:15 tells us that we are saved through childbearing and the embracing of our maternal anointing. The full meaning of the word “saved” means you will be “protected, healed, preserved, delivered and made whole.”
Be blessed today,
Nancy Campbell
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God has given us so many treasures in family life. We must protect them and watch that we don’t give them away.In 2 Chronicles 12:9 we read how the King of Egypt came up against Jerusalem and “took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.”
King Rehoboam was not on guard. He allowed the treasures of God’s house and his house to be taken away. These were not little treasures. They were treasures of gold. Everything in the house of God was made of pure gold. Even the shields were made of gold.
We must also guard that we don’t allow our treasures of gold to be taken away. This is just want the enemy wants to do. He comes to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10). He comes to rob us of all that God wants us to enjoy.
When we let him rob us, we end up with second best. The King of Egypt took the shields of gold, “Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass” (2 Chronicles 12:10). Counterfeit! Second best! Which do you want? Gold or brass? You have to choose.
God is the author of marriage. Because it is God’s plan, the devil wants to destroy it. Don’t let him steal your marriage. Keep a soft and forgiving heart. Don’t let hardness take hold of your heart. Hardness leads to divorce (Matthew 19:8). Instead, build your marriage. Every day, find some way to build into your marriage and make it stronger. When you strengthen your marriage, you are a threat against Satan, the Destroyer.
Guard your children. Don’t allow the enemy to rob and deceive them with lies and deception. Don’t give them away each day to the public education system to drill their humanistic and alternative propaganda into their brains.
Micah 2:9 says: “The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away their glory forever.” The Amplified Version translates this verse: “From her children you take away my splendor and blessing forever (by putting them among pagans, away from Me).” God says that the glory of children is for them to be raised in the home.
Guard your fertility. Our fertility is a very precious gift from God. And it doesn’t last forever. It is only for a window of time in the seasons of our whole life. We can’t determine when we will have children. It is ultimately in God’s hands. To walk in God’s perfect plan for our lives, we should yield our wombs to God, for His glory. He will give the children He has planned from the foundation of the world.
If you are having problems conceiving, ask your husband to lay his hands upon your womb and pray over you every day. Make a specific time every day. Your husband is your covering and God will hear his cries for you.
Guard your family life. Once again, family is God’s idea. It’s the way He has planned for us to live in their world. He has no other plan. He specifically states that He wants the solitary to live in families. It’s the healthiest way to live. But because It is God’s plan, the devil hates it. We know he is bent on destroying family life.
He won’t always tempt you with blatant, sinful things to destroy your family, He uses little things. He subtly deceives you. Watch for his deceptions. Watch that your family doesn’t become fragmented, everyone constantly going their various ways. This is the testimony of most families today, but it’s not God’s way.
He wants us to build our families. To make things happen in our homes that keep the family together. That build relationships. That encourage interaction and family life. Determine to sit together for your family meals, especially for your evening. Don’t only eat food at your table. Feed the soul and encourage family discussion and participation. And feed the spirit. Never leave the table without reading God’s living Word and praying together. Guard this precious time. Don’t give it away.
“Drive your pegs deep” (Isaiah 54:2). Guard your treasures, dear mothers. Don’t let them filter through your fingers. It can happen so easily. You must PURPOSEFULLY, DELIBERATELY, and INTENTIONALLY build into your marriage and family life. It doesn’t just happen. You must make it happen.
Constantly think and dream of how you are going to build your home and family. That’s what a builder does. He dreams. He gets a vision. And then he takes action and builds according to the plan.
Be blessed today,
Nancy Campbell
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If we truly know God is holy, we will walk in the fear of God. We will fear to displease Him and sin against Him. It surprises me when people who say they are Christians commit sinful and lustful deeds, often without conscience. They watch movies with fornication and adultery and think nothing of it. I know several couples who confess Christ as their Savior and yet live together without being married. Is their conscience hardened, or do they not understand what sin is?We live in a culture where every sinful thing is tolerated. Even if the Bible states that it is sin, or an abomination, we are still expected to tolerate it. Obviously, this generation does not know the Bible. They don’t know what God says. They don’t know that He is a holy God. And they don’t know that “Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).
If we do not walk in reverential fear of our Holy God, we do not know the God of the Bible. God does not tolerate sin. Yes, He has patience toward the sinner as He waits for them to come to repentance. Yes, He forgives and cleanses sin. No sin is too great for Him to pardon. But because He is holy, he has no fellowship with sin. If we believe in a God who tolerates sin, it is a god of our own imagination.
However, as with everything, it starts in the home. We as parents have a responsibility to show what sin is to our children. If we tolerate sin in our children and allow them to get away with disobedience, deceit, rebellion, lying, and so on, we could be keeping them from salvation and the promise of eternal life with God forever. Unless they are convicted of sin, they will not realize they need of a Savior. The understanding of sin comes first!
Let’s raise our children to understand the true nature of God—that He is a HOLY God who hates sin. That why He sent His Beloved Son to die and shed His blood to save us from our sin.
Let’s lead our children on the way of holiness. Isaiah 35:8 says: “And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called THE WAY OF HOLINESS; the unclean shall not pass over it.”
On which way are we walking? On which way are we leading our children? The way of holiness? Or the worldly way?
Be blessed today,
Nancy Campbell
2804 Hits
What would life have been like, I wondered
If I hadn't been a Mom?
If God had never placed a baby
In the shelter of my arms?
If I hadn't been a Mom
I probably would not have cried so much
I surely would not have laughed so much
I definitely would not have loved, or been loved, so much.
If I hadn't been a Mom
I wouldn't have had the chance to be
A hero, saving the day,
A fashion consultant, explaining why some things just don't match
A nurse, comforting the sick
A general, rallying the troops,
A teacher, shaping young minds,
A detective, searching out truth,
An explorer, seeking lost treasures,
A missionary, sharing the gospel of Christ.
If I hadn't been a Mom
I would never have
Been loved unconditionally by a five-month old
Snuggled under a special blankie with a two-year old
Sang Veggie Tales songs with a four-year old
Had a tickle fight with a five-year old
Found a willing and able helper in a seven-year old
Received a one-of-a-kind original masterpiece from a nine-year old
Been beaten in chess by an eleven-year old
Been instructed in the top Christian artists and their latest songs by a
thirteen-year old
Had my book-reading record broken by a fifteen-year old
Or been prayed for faithfully each night by a sixteen-year old.
I would have missed out on star-gazing, water-hose tag, read-alouds,
dancing, birthday parties and Christmas mornings full of joy.
If I hadn't been a Mom
I wouldn't have had the chance to fall in love with my husband
Time and time again
As he kissed a tiny baby
Or danced with a little girl
Wrestled with little boys
Or took young ladies out on their first dates
And taught young men what it means to be a man.
If I hadn't been a Mom
I wouldn't have to read Amelia Bedelia or play "This Little Piggy"
numberless times
I wouldn't have had to wipe crayon off the walls
Scrub Play-Doh out of the carpets
Or spot treat countless little clothes
I wouldn't find old diapers under my car seat,
Rocks in my washing machine,
Or my toothbrush on the floor behind the toilet.
I wouldn't have had to make last-minute searches for shoes,
Fix hundreds of ponytails,
Wipe thousands of noses,
Clip millions of fingernails.
I wouldn't have been drooled, thrown up, pooped, and peed on.
I wouldn't have come to think of the bathroom as my private sanctuary
Or settled into the dentist's chair with a sigh of pleasure
At the prospect of thirty minutes of peace.
But if I hadn't been a Mom
I wouldn't have been given butterfly kisses
Or felt baby hands clasped around my neck.
I wouldn't have received love notes
With questionable spelling,
But matchless expression.
I wouldn't have enjoyed wildflower bouquets
Or head rubs
Or been the object of so many radiant smiles.
I wouldn't have received
An encouraging word, a hug,
Or an act of service just when I needed it most.
I wouldn't have shared heart-to-heart talks
With aspiring young film-makers,
Computer experts, artists, writers, interior decorators,
Chefs, gardeners, singers, architects, ballerinas, engineers, inventors,
Explorers, horse-trainers, and future Daddies and Mommies.
I wouldn't have a front-row seat to the blossoming of future
world-changers
And the pleasure of living with my very best friends.
If I hadn't been a Mom I wouldn't have heard a child cry "Mommy!"
If I hadn't been a Mom
I wouldn't have been challenged
To love Christ more,
Trust my Father more,
Listen to the Holy Spirit more,
Repent quickly,
Speak carefully,
Forgive graciously,
Give generously,
Be truer, braver, freer.
I might never have plumbed the depths of my own weakness
And found, at the bottom, the miracle of God's grace.
So, for all you little girls—
Hold fast to your baby dolls and love them well.
And to you big girls
Standing on the edge of life's great adventure—
When you hear the lie, as you surely will,
That life is too short to be lived
Within four walls washing dishes,
Changing diapers,
Cleaning up messes,
Teaching ABCs,
And being the center of a whirlwind of noise and activity,
Don't pay it any mind.
Take it from someone who has gone before you
That, although whatever road God takes you down in life will be blessed,
There is no richer journey than the one you will find
If you are one day privileged
To be a Mom.
By Jenny Hutchins, mother of 10 children.
3223 Hits
Can you believe it? After President Trump and Republican leaders promised to defund Planned Parenthood, they have now gone ahead and funded $500 million to this baby killing organization. They have fulfilled Hilly Clinton’s promise instead.
Planned Parenthohod is the Auschwitz of our country. They kill over 320,000 babies every year! And then they have the audacity to sell the baby organs to make more money—precious limbs, livers, hearts, brains, eyes, and even whole heads! And they even have a law suit against David Daleiden, the brave young man who exposed what they are doing. What is his crime? Telling the truth.
We can’t let this go without standing up for what is right. We must always stand for life. God is for life. He is the author of life, but Satan hates life and wants to kill, rob, and destroy.
What can you do? Pray above everything else. Pray for repentance among our national leaders for helping to kill babies. Pray for God to change their hearts. Pay for leaders who will stand for truth. Pray for pastors and clergy who will stand for truth. Pray together as a family each day.
And pray in your churches? Did your church pray about this matter on Sunday?
And be a voice. Go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ where you can leave a message for President Trump. Tell him that you expected him to keep his promise. Tell him to stand up for life and do something to defund Planned Parenthood.
Phone your senators. Go to:
https://www.dailykos.com/…/-Call-your-senator-Phone-numbers…
Phone your congressmen. Go to: https://www.house.gov/representatives
If you would prefer to email, click on the name of your representative which will take you to where you can email them. I both emailed a message and phoned my senators and representatives.
By the way, why did I say I was shuddering with horror? Paul writes in Romans 12:9: “Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” The Greek word “abhor” is very strong and means “to shudder with horror.” Is there anything more horrifying than the killing of unborn innocent lives? If it doesn’t make us shudder, we should ask God to soften our hearts to beat with His heart.
Proverbs 31:8, 9 exhorts us: “Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and please the cause of the poor and needy.”
Did you notice that this Scripture doesn’t tell you to keep your mouth closed, but to OPEN YOUR MOUTH!
Make your voice heard.
Thanks for standing for life,
Nancy Campbell
2585 Hits
No children in the house to play-
It must be hard to live that way!
I wonder what the people do
When night comes on and the work is through,
With no glad little folks to shout,
No eager feet to race about,
No youthful tongues to chatter on
About the joy that’s been and gone?
The house might be a castle fine,
But what a lonely place to dine!
No children in the house at all,
No finger marks upon the wall,
No corner where the toys are piled—
Sure indication of a child.
No little lips to breathe the prayer
That God shall keep you in His care,
No glad caress and welcome sweet
When night returns you to your street;
No little lips a kiss to give—
Oh, what a lonely way to live!
No children in the house! I fear
We could not stand it half a year.
What would we talk about at night?
Plan for and work with all our might,
Hold common dreams about and find
True union of the heart and mind,
If we two had no greater care
Than what we both should eat and wear?
We never knew love’s brightest flame
Until the day the baby came.
And now we could not get along
Without their laughter and their song,
Joy is not bottled on a shelf,
It cannot feed upon itself;
And even love, if it shall wear,
Must find its happiness in care;
Dull we’d become of mind and speech
Had we no little ones to teach.
No children in the house to play!
Oh, we could never live that way!
By Edgar Guest.
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What’s the atmosphere like in your home today? Sometimes it can get chaotic. Sometimes its morbid. Other times happy and laughing.
Dear mothers, we are the ones who choose the atmosphere of our home. Yes, we decide what atmosphere we want! What do you want? Do you want your home to be filled with the presence of God? Filled with joy and happiness? Then we can make it happen.
It all starts with us. First, we choose what we do with our emotions. We choose how we handle our trials. I know that life isn’t perfect. Many things don’t go the way we want them to. Life often hits us whammies we never imagined.
Whatever we face today, we can choose to trust God. He is bigger than any situation we face. We can choose to praise Him in the midst of the storm. We can choose to rejoice in every situation. We can choose to see things in the light of the eternal, instead of the here and now (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
We can choose to fill our home with God’s presence. We do this by choosing to praise God instead of complaining, moaning, griping, and falling into self-pity. Psalm 22:3 says that God dwells in our praises! That means that when we choose to praise instead of groan, God dwells in us. His presence comes to us and fills our home. The word is “yashab” and even means to “sit down.” He sits down and rests in our praises. Some translations say that He is “enthroned” in our praises.
1 Peter 4:12-14 inspires us to rejoice even in the midst of fiery trials. Actually, we are to “exceedingly rejoice.” And when we rejoice instead of grumbling, “the spirit of glory and of God rests upon” us (v. 14). Isn’t that incredible? That sure brings a wonderful atmosphere to your home.
What rests upon you and your home today? The morbid mud of self-pity, or the glory of God?
Love to you today,
Nancy Campbell
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I can remember times during the days of our marriage when my husband would come home tired and ready for his evening meal, but I had planned to go out to a meeting or activity. What should I do? Place his dinner in front of him, say Bye, and leave him to all the children? Or should I stay with him and the children for the evening?
The modern viewpoint would say, “Well, you’ve been with the children all day long. It’s about time he had his turn!”
But what decision builds into the marriage and the home? I think you’ve guessed it. It is so easy to build into so many other things in this life and forget our greatest building project.
That doesn’t mean, of course, that you will never go out. There are always special occasions. But we need to be sensitive and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as to what is the best thing. Good things are often the enemy of the best! It’s so easy to get into the habit of always going out, which doesn’t build up the marriage and the home. I believe it is important, as much as possible, to be home with your husband and family to prepare the evening meal, to sit together for the evening meal, and to enjoy family worship together.
Proverbs 14:1: “Every wise woman builds her house: but the foolish plucks it down with her hands.” The New Century Version says it very clearly: “A wise woman strengthens her family, but a foolish woman destroys hers by what she does.”
Every day make decisions. Every day we plan our schedule. Let’s always make our decisions in the light of building up and strengthening our marriages and families. And remember, it’s not just the big things, but the little everyday things that are the most powerful building tools.
Blessings to you today,
Nancy Campbell
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Here is a picture of my Meditation Basket. I use it every day and everywhere I go, downstairs in the office where I am writing to you and searching the Word and upstairs where I live.
What do you put in a Meditation Basket? Find any suitable basket around you home and put in it your Bible and whatever else inspires you when you have your Quiet Time (or not so quiet if the children are around you). Here are some ideas for you.
Your Bible. Most important of all.
A Daily Devotional of your choice. You may love to have “100 Days of Blessing” which is a devotional especially for wives and mothers. We have both volumes 1 and 2 available for you at http://tinyurl.com/100DaysBundle
A different version of the Bible than you normally read. I keep my “Hebrew/Greek Key Study Bible in the King James Version. However, I love to have a couple of different translations to also refer to. I am a connoisseur of Bible translations and change them in my basket from time to time.
An old hymn book (it is wonderful to read some of the wonderful old hymns to inspire you in your worship and walk with the Lord).
A hard-covered diary in which you can write the most important Scripture God gives you for the day.
Two or three pens (or even more as they seem to disappear quickly), as you want to have a pen on hand when God speaks to you. I need a load of pens as I am a professional pen looser!
Keep your Meditation Basket in the place where you love to sit with the Lord. You can pick up your basket and take it with you anywhere in the house. To your bedroom. Or to the sofa where you are nursing the baby. You may like to take it outside under a tree while you watch the children play, or wherever you want to go. It’s all in the basket. You don’t have to run around finding everything when you find another cozy nook somewhere.
I hope this is an inspiration to you. Have a lovely day.
NANCY CAMPBELL
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Do you love preparing meals for your family? Or do you find it a chore? Dearest wives and mothers, can I encourage you today that cooking and preparing meals for your family is not an insignificant task? It is a powerful part of your divine mothering career. It holds families together. It keeps generations alive.
A home is a true home when families sit around the table together eating and fellowshipping, laughing and debating, exchanging ideas and sharing new visions. It’s pulsating. It releases family members into great things. And most of all, it strengthens and cements the family unit.
But it rarely happens without food. Food paves the way for these life-changing and sometimes nation-changing moments to happen. And who does it come back to? The mother in the home. She is the one who prepares the atmosphere by lovingly preparing the food and graciously setting it on the table. It doesn’t have to be exotic food. It only needs to be simple food. But food is needed!
How Jesus loved to sit at the table and share divine truths. What was Jesus own testimony of himself? “The Son of man is come eating and drinking” (Luke 7:34). Robert Karris, the author of “Eating Your Way Through Luke’s Gospel” says: “In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal.”
Proverbs 31:15 (NASB) says: “She (the mother in the home) rises also while it is still night and gives food to her household.” SHE is the one who prepares the food. SHE is the one who prepares the way for family togetherness. SHE is the one who sees beyond the work of cooking food to the great things that will happen as the family and others come to the table around the food.
Of course, it’s not always perfect. Especially when your children are little. It can be exhausting and hair-raising! But dear mothers, keep establishing the habit of family meals around the table. You are training your children. You are establishing godly and biblical habits. Eventually your work and training will be rewarded. Your children grow, and you will eventually have amazing times of conversation and discussion together.
In the meantime, if you are desperate for more intelligent fellowship, open your home in hospitality. Invite people to your home to sit around your table with you. This is normal Christian life. It is the extension of our mothering and homemaking ministry. It is the lifestyle of the kingdom of God. Acts 2:46, 47 (NET) says: “Every day they continued to gather together . . . breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts, praising God and having the good will of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved.”
Rejoice in the power of preparing meals in your home today.
Love from Nancy Campbell
Painting by Phoebe Wahl
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Did you know that the home is associated with healing? In Luke 2:42, 43 Jesus tells a parable of the master of the household who appoints a faithful and wise steward to be in charge of his home and to make sure his servants have food while he is away. The same parable is also told in Matthew 24:45-47. The word household is “therapeia” in the Greek and means “attendance to medical needs, domestic, healing.”
In other words, out homes should be homes of healing—healing the spirit, the soul, and the body. That’s why God ordained the home. It is an oasis from the storms of life, a sanctuary from the chaos and strife in the world, a place of safety to nurture and raise children, and a place of healing.
One of the powerful places in the home is the table where we eat and fellowship. It is the gathering place. The home centers around food and fellowship. If we do not smell the wonderful smells of spices and herbs enhancing the food cooking on the stove and the aroma of homemade bread in the oven we miss some of the joys of home.
If we do not sit around the table to communicate, discuss, and share our revelations and thoughts as we eat together we miss the true essence of home. The table is communal. It promotes oneness, not independence.
The picture God paints of a blessed family is of children “all around the table” (Psalm 1238:3). Tables are meant to be filled. God didn’t intend the 1.8-member family of today’s society. He loves the filled table. And not only the immediate family, but often grandparents and extended family. And friends and strangers. Each one comes with expectancy, ready for new dialogue. The place hums with conversation. No one is lonely. The togetherness brings healing and joy.
To talk about the things that are on our hearts help to heal our confusions or brokenness. And when we eat, it is important to eat healthy foods. This word “healing” that is used for “household” is used in only two other places in the Bible. Both talk about healing.
Luke 9:11 where Jesus “healed them that had need of healing (therapeia).”
Revelation 22:1, 2 speaks of “A pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing (therapeia) of the nations.” Healing foods, not refined junk foods.
Are we careful to prepare healing foods for our husbands and children? This is such an important part of being a homemaker.
Make your home a beautiful place of healing for the spirit, the soul, and the body.
Love from Nancy Campbell
Painting by Harold Anderson
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